Former presidential adviser Wu Li-pei (吳澧培), who was found not guilty in a money-laundering case, yesterday filed lawsuits against two prosecutors and two judges for what he called their abuse of judicial powers and political persecution.
Accompanied by his lawyers, Wu filed lawsuits against former Special Investigation Division (SID) prosecutors Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南) and Tsai Tsun-hsi (蔡宗熙) for malicious prosecution and judges Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓) and Lee Ying-hao (李英豪) for malicious accusation.
“The lawsuits may not end up with the results I want, but it’s imperative for me to stand up against the prosecutorial abuse and political persecution after the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) return to power in 2008,” Wu told a press conference before filing the lawsuits at the Taipei District Court.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
The former presidential adviser said that he was subpoenaed as a witness in another case, but ended up being indicted on money-laundering charges “simply because the prosecutors said I had a close relationship with former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).”
The prosecutors appealed the case without any new evidence until “a judge with a conscience” cleared the charges against him in October 2011, three years after he was indicted, Wu said.
“Those who abused their judicial power should be held accountable,” he said.
The lawsuits were part of an effort by a group of self-proclaimed “judicial victims,” who said they were victims of political persecution aimed at former officials of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration, to highlight the necessity of judicial reform.
There have been at least 14 cases in which one or more former officials in the DPP administration were charged with corruption, but were later found not guilty, the group said.
The group has named 17 prosecutors in five cases so far and said they would continue to file lawsuits in the coming weeks.
Former DPP legislator Wu Ming-min (吳明敏) filed lawsuits accusing three investigators in the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau of subornation of perjury last week in Taichung and former Tainan mayor Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財), who has been found not guilty in a corruption case, is scheduled to file a similar lawsuit on April 1.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS